POLICY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
2026 legislative agenda
The Chamber of Commerce Hawaii's 2026 legislative agenda focuses on key policies that drive economic growth, support workforce development, and strengthen local businesses—aligning with our 2030 Blueprint for Hawaii’s long-term prosperity. These bills prioritize initiatives that enhance business competitiveness, invest in talent pipelines, and foster innovation to ensure a resilient and thriving economy for the future.
Travel & Tourism
Relating to Tech Enablement: Provides HTDC funding to help small, locally owned tourism businesses adopt digital and AI tools, enhancing efficiency, market access, and local economic retention.
Relating to Sustainable Tourism Matching Grants: Establishes a voluntary state matching grant program supporting outcome-driven sustainability investments across Hawaii’s visitor industry, including hotels, cruise operations, and port facilities.
Relating to Trade-Ready Capacity Grant Program: Establishes a competitive DBEDT grant program supporting capital investments in equipment, automation, and facilities to expand Hawaii’s trade-ready manufacturing capacity, leveraging private matching funds.
Military & Defense
Investing in MACRO to Expand Local Business Participation in Defense and Federal Opportunities: Appropriates $1.3 million to the Military Affairs Community Relations Office (MACRO) within DBEDT to boost local business participation in defense and federal contracts, coordinate military–community engagement, and enhance civilian-military operational capacity.
Research & Development (R&D) Tax Credit Enhancement: Strengthens Hawaii’s R&D Tax Credit by removing base-year restrictions and raising the annual cap from $5 million to $15 million, supporting innovation and high-tech firms.
Encourages the Governor to Prioritize Military Training Lands as Critical Economic and Workforce Infrastructure: Urges the Governor and state agencies to preserve and responsibly manage military training lands, recognizing them as vital for national defense, economic growth, workforce development, and community resilience.
21st Century Agriculture
Regional Agricultural Feasibility and Food Systems Production Studies Program: A state-supported program that conducts regional agricultural feasibility and crop production studies to guide food system planning, infrastructure investment, and institutional procurement.
Agricultural Workforce Housing Incentive Program: Recognizes agricultural workforce housing as a scored public benefit, leveraging existing state authority to address workforce housing constraints through a practical, incentive-based approach.
Hawaii Agricultural Transportation Assistance Program: Establishes a Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity program to offset high transportation and logistics costs faced by farmers, ranchers, food producers, and food hubs due to Hawaii’s geographic isolation and inter-island supply chains.
Encourages the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, in Coordination with DBEDT and DOE, to Advance an Upstream Agriculture Production Readiness Program: Promotes a program aligning institutional food demand with farm production capacity, enhancing Regional Kitchen investments, and addressing Hawaii’s county- and neighbor island–specific agricultural and infrastructure needs.
Small Business
State Building Code Council Capacity & Permitting Transparency: Funds a permanent full-time position on the State Building Code Council to improve permitting transparency, standardize data and training, and advance building code modernization.
Micro-Lending Credit Enhancement for Small Businesses: Expands micro-lending by supporting state-funded loan loss reserves or credit-enhancement programs that absorb first-loss risk, leveraging public funds to boost private lending.
Hawaii Technology Development Corporation (HTDC) Innovation, SBIR, and Accelerator Support: Directs HTDC to set state innovation goals and implement projects promoting economic diversification across tech sectors, with funding appropriated to support these initiatives.
Economic Action
Workforce Housing Regulatory Sandbox Program: A state-county pilot led by HHFDC that provides temporary, project-specific regulatory flexibility for workforce housing while preserving local authority and enforceable affordability requirements.
Workforce Builder Tax Credit: A state tax credit that incentivizes employers to offer paid internships and registered apprenticeships, administered by the Department of Taxation with DLIR certification and capped at $5 million annually.
Financial Literacy Education: Integrates financial literacy into existing high school courses, supported by partnerships and professional development, to build practical skills in budgeting, saving, credit, and investing.
Economic Competitiveness & Workforce Development (Hawaii Employer-Led Sector Partnerships Special Fund): Establishes a DBEDT-managed special fund to provide stable, flexible funding for employer-led, demand-driven sector partnerships aligned with Hawaii’s priority industries.
Early Learning Apprenticeship Grant Program: A UH-administered grant program that provides financial and training support to licensed early learning providers participating in DLIR-registered apprenticeships.
MARITIME
Study on a State-Sponsored Maritime Youth Apprenticeship Pathway Program: Directs Honolulu Community College, with state agencies and maritime employers, to study and design a statewide apprenticeship pathway for ages 16–24 and report recommendations to the Legislature.
Urging the Public Utilities Commission to Establish a Dedicated Maritime Panel for Intrastate Water Carrier Regulation: Urges the PUC to create a dedicated panel overseeing intrastate water carrier regulation, coordinating with HDOT to enhance maritime operations, supply chain resilience, and decarbonization readiness.
Urging the State to Incorporate Maritime Sector Needs into Hawaii’s 2045 Clean Energy and Decarbonization Goals: Urges the State to recognize maritime transportation as critical infrastructure and directs HDOT to assess zero-emission feasibility, infrastructure, and fuel needs, reporting recommendations to the Legislature.